Paragon of the X Men
by Screaming Dean
Summary: Doug Ramsey has turned into the powerful Paragon! In ch 5 he gets some quality time with Rogue and he has a fight with the jealous Gambit. Then he and the X-Men take on Magneto after he takes over a nuclear powered military base! I'VE REWRITTEN THIS FANFIC.
1. New Beginnings

Paragon of the X-Men

CHAPTER ONE

!SPECIAL EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

After having graduated college with a communications degree and minoring in aeronautics at the age of 20 with flying colors, Douglas Ramsey, his older sister, and parents made their way to their car, the graduation ceremony being over. "So what are you going to do now that you've got you've graduated college, son?" Phillip Ramsey, Doug's father asked.

"I was thinking about either getting a job at a high level computer company like Microsoft or Hewlett Packard. But I've also thought about the part time job I enjoyed working as an interpreter for the United Nations. The idea of being a linguist really thrills me," Doug answered.

"I'm shocked that you would even like a job working with so many people from so many different countries," his sister interjected, tossing her long blond hair back in a cute and sexy manner which was aided by the fact she was beautiful with a fetching, curvaceous figure.

"I loved the job, Cindy."

"Why would you want a job as a mere linguist?" the sister asked.

I know several languages and I like translating."

"You're a natural at learning languages, Doug. But since you are an actual genius you should go to work at a company like Boeing. You can do communications there as well as aeronautics. Even you're language abilities will prove useful. As you learn the ropes you will prove to be indispensable," his mother, Sheila Ramsey said, smiling at her Doug with a mother's pride as she looked over her shoulder.

"I suppose so, Mom. This is really such a wonderful day for me. I guess you weren't surprised to have a son graduate college, since Dad and Grandfather are college graduates as well."

"No. But I'm proud of the fact that you've gotten so many more degrees at a younger age than either your father or grandfather," the middle aged woman explained with a smile and a knowing look.

"Thanks, Mom."

"Oh, there's more. I believe that I have a gift for making whatever the inherent talents my children inherit even greater. The fact that you've done well in several kinds of communications classes, computers, electronics, forensics, chemistry, radiology, biology and physics proves that. That's why you're so much smarter than your father," the drop dead gorgeous woman said smugly as her husband gave her a quizzical look.

"I find it hard to believe you actually liked doing all that studying, Doug. I don't think you did any kind of partying or socializing at all," his older sister piped in.

"I did do a little bit of socializing."

"Like who?" Cindy enquired.

"There were the guys in Master Keiji Thomas' kung fu class."

"It's nice that you learned how to fight very well, but that really doesn't count, Doug. How many girls did you date there?"

"One or two. Anyway. There was so much more to college than socializing, Cindy," Doug replied in defense of himself.

"That's right, Doug. I hope you'll keep that in mind when **you** go back to college next fall, Cindy," the older man said as he turned towards his daughter and regarded her. "Next fall will be your senior year and I hope you'll graduate with good grades."

"What are you talking about? I always get good grades!"

"Yes. But it seems as if your mind isn't as focused as it should be. I really hope you'll buckle down and graduate, prepared for life in the real world," the father commented.

Oh, I'll graduate. But I plan on doing a lot of dating this upcoming Fall. I just know there will be a lot of hot guys there, the girl said happily as she practically stared into space.

"Anyway," the older man continued, more than a little put off by his daughter's seeming lack of dedication. "Let's celebrate Doug's graduation. As it is, I've already made reservations at the Graymercy Tavern."

"Is that the restaurant owned by Thomas Coleco, the multi-Michelin star rated chef who has his own television show on the Foodie Network?" Cindy exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes."

"Oh, honey, I've been wanting to go to that restaurant for ages!" the mother exclaimed happily. "Thomas Coleco has the best restaurant in New York City. Not only is the food there excellent, the fine dining experience is reputed to be exemplary."

"That's right, Sheila. I had to pull a lot of strings to get reservations there, but I've finally managed to get a good table reserved for us tonight. But there's little time to waste; so we need to get there quickly. Let's go."

While the brown Lamborghini drove off to its destination, a few dark figures watched them leave, shadowing them. "You guys saw that car with the man, woman and their kids driving off, didn't you?" the young, red headed Scotch/Irishman named Ramrod asked his teammates as he sported a long bo staff made of near indestructible Lingstone wood from Holland.

"Yeah, we saw them. The geek who graduated college is the target that Mr. Sinister wants to be kept intact so he can experiment on him. But the kid's parents and sister are fair game. Heh, heh," the one covered in fur said, his sharp fangs out as he drooled all over himself. "Both the mother and daughter are smoking hot!"

"That's right, Hairbag," the clear headed, smooth bodied, large man with big muscles commented. "Even though that lady was older, she had a great body! Talk about a M.I.L.F.! I bet she was a gold digger that married the old man for his money. The tramp! Did you see how expensive the car they drove off in was? Sheesh!"

"Maybe, so, Slab. But listen up guys," Ramrod, the field leader of the group commanded. "We can't afford any slip ups in this. And we don't want to attract any undue attention."

"You mean from the X-Men, Govna?" the one called Gorgeous George interjected. This villain had long brown hair and a black body made of elastic tar which was partly concealed by a large, grey/brown trench coat. "No problem. But I'd like to see exactly how much flexibility my body really has."

_"I should be leading this team," _the one called Ruckus thought to himself. He was a thin man with short cropped blond hair and a large mouth. "Let's not forget that we were told to make sure there were no witnesses."

"I know that!" Ramrod snapped back. "I know what I'm doing here, Ruckus."

"Then I guess you know that Douglas Ramsey is himself a mutant," Ruckus snidely remarked.

"The question isn't whether I knew; the question is whether or not I cared. And the answer to that is no. Mr. Sinister wants this kid for his experiments. Whatever powers he has will be of no consequence. He's not a member of the X-Men or X-Force, so he'll be no match for us," Ramrod explained, sporting his powerful wooden staff.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Hairbag said with enthusiasm. "I can't wait to see who actually looks better naked, the daughter or the mother. Heh, heh, heh."

"You're waiting for my command," Ramrod replied, giving the wolf like being a sharp look. "We will wait for them to go to their destination. Then when they return home we will be waiting for them."

"I think you're being sentimental allowing them one last meal," Ruckus said, narrowing his eyes at the field leader.

"Not really. What we need to do has to happen behind closed doors."

XXX

"That was a great meal, Dad," Doug Ramsey said happily on their way home from the five-star restaurant.

"What made it even better was when Thomas Coleco actually stopped by our table and asked how the food was," Cindy sighed happily. "Who would have thought a guy without hair could be so dashing?"

"It was a wonderful evening, Phillip."

"I'm glad everyone enjoyed themselves, Sheila." Then Phillip Ramsey turned towards his son. "Now when we get inside I want you to get some sleep and think about what you're going to do for your future."

"All right, Dad."

As the family walked inside, a figure came out of the shadows. "Greetings. Mr. Phillip Ramsey. You kept us waiting just so you could have a nice dinner."

"Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" Doug's father yelled as he took a protective position in regards to his family.

"Spare me the bravado! I've actually come for your much gifted son. He, by the way, is a mutant."

"That's ridiculous! If Doug was a mutant he would have shown it by now!" Sheila Ramsey stated from behind her husband.

"That's right; so get out of here!" the older man demanded.

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, old man," Ramrod said, brandishing his powerful wooden staff and giving the frightened family a look that seemed as if it could kill them. !WHACK!

"Ungh!"

"Daddy!" Cindy called out, going to her downed father's side. "He's head's split open! Daddy, get up! Daddy!"

"Hold it, sweet cheeks!" Slab ordered, grabbing the woman by the hair, yanking her head back while tugging at her blouse.

"Leave her alone!" Doug demanded, grabbing the muscular man, using a martial arts-like throw and slamming him to the ground.

"I thought this guy was a wimp," the bald man said with a look of shock on his face.

"Back down, Slab. Gorgeous George, grab our target," Ramrod ordered.

"Yes, Govna!" But as the tar colored Caucasian stretched his arms and attempted to take hold of the young man, Doug ducked under the grasping hands, grabbed the man by the wrists and threw him against the wall.

"I'll get him!" the one called Hairbag called out, leaping towards the young man with speed and determination, his claws and fangs out, ready for the kill.

"No, you won't!" Doug Ramsey timed a powerful forward snap kick just right, almost knocking the wind out the wolf like man, almost stunning him as he sent him several feet back from whence he came.

"You're not doing so well as leader, Ramrod," Ruckus said, turning towards the current leader with a sneer as their surprised compatriots smarted from the beating their quarry had been giving them.

"Shut up! It looks like I'm going to have to take this person out myself," Ramrod said, calmly walking over to the young man who stood between the intruders and his family.

"Back off!"

"If you weren't so valuable to my boss, you'd be dead just like your fool of a father. But as it is, you're going to be in a world of pain," Ramrod said as he attacked with his staff at super human speed. But despite all that, the young man surprised the intruder, holding his own against him by evading and counter attacking, getting a couple of shots in.

"I don't believe this! No wonder the boss wants you so badly. No matter. I'll just have to up my game." Then Ramrod used his wood controlling powers to split his staff in two, attacking the young man using escrima-like stick fighting maneuvers, moving the sticks faster and faster forcing his quarry back.

But despite all this, Doug kept fighting, blocking and maneuvering as was needed, getting in two hits for every one he took. "What do you want? Why are you here?"

"Our boss wants you; and what our boss wants, he gets. Now simply surrender or things will be the worse for you!" Ramrod answered back, stepping up his attacks. _"I have to be careful not to kill this kid, but he's really good. It's a good thing I'm wearing armor under my clothes or he might have finished me off by now. But I'll wear him down in time."_

"I won't let you harm my family!" the man said, standing up to his enemy's assault as his frightened mom and sister cowered behind him. "I don't care what your boss wants!"

While this fight was going on Ruckus moved to the left of the valiant young man who protected his family, attacking with surprise! "Yeeaaaagh!" Ruckus screamed, striking Doug and his family with a sonic blast, knocking them all out.

"That was uncalled for, Ruckus. I had the situation in hand. Worse than that, you hit me!" Ramrod said in more than a little bit of pain.

"You were handling nothing! And so what if you took some collateral damage from my sonic attack? Sacrifices must be made," the sonic powered mutant snapped back.

"I've had it with your arrogance, Ruckus. I'm the leader here, and that's that!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, it's obvious to everyone I should be the leader of the Nasty Boys!"

"Is that so?"

"That's right!"

"If the boy has been damaged..."

"Do you take me for a fool? The sonic attack I used was stun only. I knew Doug Ramsey was not to be harmed. Even his mother and daughter are still alive. However, since we must eliminate everyone else..."

"Hold it, Ruckus!" Gorgeous George interjected with Slab and Hairbag behind him. "Let's have a little fun with these page threes before we ice them." The tar colored mutant then used his long arms to reach for the women and started to tear their clothes off. "Sweet!"

"Same some for me!" Hairbag piped in as he also began to undress the women.

"We don't have time for this," Ramrod stated impatiently. "We must kill them and be done with it!"

"Relax, Ramrod. Let the boys have their fun. Come to think of it these birds are awfully fetching. We'll take them back to base and enjoy them there. When we're done with them, then they will die."

"I don't like it. We shouldn't bring them to base. There's so much that could go wrong."

"It's gonna happen whether you like it or not!"

"Listen here, Ruckus. You're not going to..."

"Yeeaaaagh!" Ruckus screamed, striking the leader with his powerful sonic attack which sent him to the ground in a heap.

"Ungh!" Ramrod moaned, stirring a little before he slipped into unconsciousness.

"How dare this fool defy me? I don't care what Sinister has decided. I'm running the Nasty Boys now. And besides, he only put you in charge to punish me for a previous failure. My probation period has gone on long enough. Now let's take these women back to base." Ruckus turned to the other members of the crew with a smile.

"Won't Sinister be upset after we've let these ladies live?" Hairbag inquired.

"Let me worry about Mr. Sinister. Now let's take our hostages and get back to base."

"What about him?" Slab said, motioning to their fallen comrade with one of the women slung over his massive shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

"We'll bring him along and tell Mr. Sinister about how our intended target defeated him rather easily causing me to take matters into my own hands," Ruckus said with a sneer at the former leader of the group.

"Cool with us!" Gorgeous George commented, the other female in his arms.

"Hairbag!"

"What?" the furry mutant answered.

"Since your hands are empty you can carry Ramrod back," Ruckus ordered.

"Why can't I get my hands on one of the women we've gotten?"

"All in good time, my furry friend."

XXX

A few days later in the stronghold of Mr. Sinister:

_"It's almost done," _Mr. Sinister contemplated as he regarded his new guinea pig. _"I've watched this one for many years now, using my machines to find out what his mutant abilities were. Now all the genetic experiments I've done have allowed me to use him to create the ultimate war machine. Doug Ramsey's mutant ability to understand anyone and anything has helped him to 'understand' what his opponent is about to do in hand to hand combat and anything else; thus making him an unusually skilled fighter. Now that I've injected the attributes, powers and skills I wanted my fighting machine to have along with putting his mind into a time warp which allowed him to 'learn and practice' everything I had put into him, it's time to finish injecting the mind control spheres into his mind; so he'll always do my bidding."_

!BOOM!

"What the… Why are my security measures going off?" the arch criminal exclaimed, looking up from his test subject.

"Mr. Sinister! Mr. Sinister!" Hairbag screamed, barging his way into the laboratory.

"This better be important, fool!"

"It is, Mr. Sinister. It is!"

"What happened?!" the chalk faced scientist demanded, grabbing his henchman by the throat and lifting him two feet off the ground, forcing said henchman to kick his legs in the air as he gasped for air.

"Cough! One of the hostages escaped and pushed a bunch of buttons which set off the explosions. We're searching the complex for her now! Choke!"

"Hostages?" Mr. Sinister regarded his henchman cruelly for a moment. "What hostages? There shouldn't have been anyone taken except for my new experiment here."

"I-I."

"Well, what is it?"

"We didn't kill Doug Ramsey's sister and mother," Hairbag answered, shaking with fright. "At least not right away."

"Whaaat?"

"We didn't..."

"I heard you the first time! Why weren't they killed swiftly as per my orders?"

"Um. Well."

"Answer me!"

"These women were extremely comely. Not wanting them to go to waste all together, we wanted to have some fun with them first."

"So how did they escape, you furball?" the arch villain demanded, his eyes growing red with rage as he stared at his underling, looking him in his frightened eyes.

"The older one died after we were through with her, but the younger one survived."

"How did she escape you?" the chalk faced villain demanded.

"She simply vanished into thin air. I think she might be a mutant like her brother."

"No one's interested in what you think, fool! Find the girl as soon as you can. I want here alive! She better still be here for you sake. Now go!" Mr. Sinister dropped his henchman to the floor and walked over to his instruments, doing some checking while Hairbag stealthily crawled away from his master's malevolent presence.

"Hmm, what is this? My sensors are telling me she's in here!"

_"Hi, Doug. It's me, Cindy. I'm speaking to you telepathically. I know you can't move now; so just listen. Yes, I'm a mutant with mental abilities. I've done a little practicing, but I've kept what I can do a secret up until now. Those guys were awfully brutal to mother and me. So I don't have long to live. Both Mom and Dad are dead, Doug; so you're all that's going to be left of the family. But before I go, I'm going to destroy the mind control spheres in your head and free you. While I'm at it, I'm going to do my best to teach you how to deal with mind control and those who have mental powers in the little amount of time I have left. However, I can only do so much; so you'll have to fight Mr. Sinister's control when you wake up. It will be the fight of your life. I'll try to buy you some time in the meanwhile. Goodbye, baby brother." _

"Huff! Yes, I'm here!" Cindy announced appearing out of nowhere. "You're through, Sinister! Wait until I psycho blast you!" the young woman said, trying to sound tough even though she was practically naked, bleeding and bruised.

"You! How dare you threaten me and set off my secret security measures?" the albino villain demanded regarding the young woman before him. "Now I'm going to... Aargh!"

"Want some more?"

"Aaargh! You will pay for that?" Mr. Sinister threatened, grasping his aching head.

"Big deal! You were going to kill me anyway. So screw you! And by the way, your boys knocked out the one with the long stick. Ruckus used his sonic powers to defeat him because he refused to go against your orders," Cindy said to the sinister villain with a knowing look, using her mental powers to convey what she knew happened into his mind.

"What?"

"What's wrong, chalky? Did they tell you my brother beat him up? You need henchmen that are more honest with you. These guys are just a bunch of thugs who do as they please, whether you like it or not."

"Really? Speaking of my henchmen, it's obvious to me you're a mutant with a decent amount of power yourself. How about if you join me? Your mental abilities would make an excellent addition to my team."

"No way! Not after what you've done to me and my family."

"Oh, get over it! If I had had my way, you'd be dead. At any rate, I've very upset with my minions for lying to me. I might well let you have some revenge on them," Sinister propositioned with a wicked, toothy smile.

"Forget it, Chalky. I don't like what you and your boys are about. Now what did you do to my brother?"

"You should thank me."

"Thank you? Why should I thank the one whose goons raped my mother and me after killing my father? You've even turned my little brother into some kind of lab rat," Cindy responded as she looked on the table to which her brother was strapped, easily recognizing the powerful looking young man with movie star good looks, long, golden blond hair and wings,. He was arrayed in a gold colored outfit that consisted of speedo trunks, gloves, and boots, leaving most of his upper body and legs bare. In addition to that, the newly made warrior had a beautifully, well muscularly defined body that resembled a bodybuilder, being six feet inches two inches tall, weighing a solid 225 pounds.

"He's now a whole lot more powerful than he could have ever hoped to be. Originally his mutant power only allowed him to communicate and read someone's body language, making him a much better fighter than he would have been otherwise. But as it is, I've given him increased strength, durability and fighting ability to the point that he can now take on someone much stronger than he is, even someone like the Hulk!"

"You have some big ambitions for my brother."

"That's right. Now that you recognize my greatness, you might want to reconsider my offer to you. As it is, he's going to be my warrior slave," Mr. Sinister said with a note of finality, his arms folded on his chest as if he had won an argument.

"Is that so? What are you going to do when he finds out what you've done to his family?" the young woman said regarding her "host." "If I was the one on that table, I'd kill you the first chance I got."

"You think I hadn't thought about that possibility?" Mr. Sinister asked, sounding as if he was talking to an idiot. "To be certain of his obedience, I've placed mind control spheres inside his brain. He would kill even you if I ordered him to."

"I don't think so."

"Oh, really?" For the sake of proving his point, the arch villain checked the instruments near the table on which Doug Ramsey lay for a moment. "What? How did this happen? He's breaking free of my control! You did this, didn't you? You bitch!"

"That's right. I've even restored the memories you erased from his mind."

"Bah! It doesn't matter. I can simply restore my control over him after I'm through with you. Now prepare to die."

"Not yet. This is for you!" _"Don't know how much longer I can stay alive. I'm fading fast! One parting shot before I leave this world," _the young woman thought to herself as she concentrated, giving this last attack everything she had.

"Aaaarrrgh! That's it!" !BLAST!

"Eeeeee!" the young woman screamed as lasers came from the walls appeared, blasting her into oblivion.

"Now to tend to my guest. What the..." Mr. Sinister turned to see his "creation" standing up and broken out of his restraints, his intensely blue eyes glaring at his former captor!

"You've killed my family, and now I'm going to kill you."

"You dare threaten me? Who do you think you are?" the villain asked in a rage.

The young man thought for a moment, pausing as Mister Sinister shrewdly regarded him. "I am Paragon!" the figure announced with a pose, as he regarded his captor with an intense stare.

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I hope those of you who liked the fanfic I'm replacing with this one will stay on board for this. Doug Ramsey will be meeting up with the X-Men sooner or later.

Here are Paragon's abilities which are based on the Classic Marvel RPG stats.

Paragon (Doug Ramsey)

FIGHTING: UNEARTHLY (100) This level of fighting means super human fighting backed up by years of training/experience.

AGILITY: REMARKABLE (30) This level of agility mean the ability to do acrobatic feats.

STRENGTH: MONSTROUS (75) This level of strength means the ability to lift(press) 80 tons.

ENDURANCE: MONSTROUS (75) This level of endurance means superhuman fortitude, rarely ever tiring.

REASON: REMARKABLE (30) This level of intelligence is equivalent to having a Doctorate.

INTUITION: INCREDIBLE (40) This level of awareness means having a strong empathic sense; i.e. a good gut feeling.

PSYCHE: AMAZING(50) This means having an indomitable willpower.

HEALTH: 280

KARMA: 120

RESOURCES: EXCELLENT

POPULARITY: EXCELLENT: known to mass media

APPEARANCE: INCREDIBLE: Paragon has an attractive, alluring appearance.

POWERS:

Body Reading: Doug has the ability to "read" people in and out of battle. This permits him Unearthly Intuition for any combat orientated Intuition FEAT checks and any kind of body reading including reading body language.

Total Memory: Remarkable

Linguistics: Unearthly(His super human ability to understand, interpret and learn a new language is at the limit of human comprehension)

Psi Screen: Amazing resistance to mental attacks.

Recognition: Doug has the ability to detect someone's ki signature with Unearthly ability, allowing him to know who someone is regardless of whether the person is a shape shifter or wearing some kind of disguise.

Kill/No Kill: Doug has the ability to enter killing combat using the same levels of damage he normally uses with any part of his body. He also can easily refrain from killing his opponent if he doesn't go all out.

Winged Flight: Paragon can fly at an Unearthly speed (1,500 miles per hour)

Gliding: By spreading his wings and riding thermals Paragon can travel at Good(120 miles/hour) airspeed and is considered "resting" enabling him to recover as if he were motionless.

Wind Force: Paragon can flap his wings, simulating super breath, creating Amazing(50 tons worth of force) strength winds at a 330 yard area range. Each area thereafter is at -1cs in intensity.

Extra Limbs: His two wings can also work like another pair of hands and arms, being fully ambidextrous (along with his regular limbs) with fine manipulation.

Elongation: Each of Paragon's wings can stretch up to six and a half feet each.

Shape Shift: Each of his wings can change their shape into various forms including clothes but always with a gold color.

Aerial Adaptation: Unearthly, his body is adapted for flying with minimal body fat and massively increased muscular efficiency. Doug's physical adaptations give him total invulnerability against damage from falling or being slammed against walls.

Energy Attack: By using ki(his life force) Paragon can attack with an energy blast that does up to Monstrous(75 tons of force) damage. In addition to this, Paragon has another energy blast that does Remarkable(one ton worth of force) working against desolids and phasers.

Light Generation: Doug is able to emit a blinding flash of light with Amazing intensity. Targets affected are blinded for 1-10 rounds and receive a -4CS penalty on all actions for the duration.

Resistance: Paragon has Unearthly Resistance to Radiation, Toxins, heat and cold weather conditions.

Invulnerability: Class 1000 resistance to Disease, Power Drains, and Absorptions.

True Invulnerability: Amazing (This means the ability to easily withstand 50 tons worth of bashing and killing attacks whether they be physical or energy) He also has Amazing invulnerability versus flash attacks, giving him the ability to stare into intense light without flinching.

Protected Environment: Even though Paragon can breathe the thinnest of air without any difficulty he still needs at least a little bit of oxygen to breath. He can also function without any difficulties in the highest altitudes within the atmosphere.

Enhanced Senses: Doug has 180 degree spatial awareness allowing him to "see" all around him much like radar. He cannot be blindsided.

Self Immunity: Doug is immune to self-inflicted damage like hitting an indestructible surface that might injure him or charging into something or someone that was too indestructible.

Regeneration: Excellent (20)

Bump of Direction: Doug has an inward compass which allows him to intrinsically know his north, south, east, west and what is up and down no matter what his current position.

EQUIPMENT

Doug's golden uniform adapts to all his defenses and abilities and cannot be taken from him. It also allows him Excellent(150 miles per hour) flight speed without the use of his wings. In addition to all this, he can quick change in and out of his uniform at will.

TALENTS/SKILLS

Martial Arts: All, Weaponsmaster, Acrobatics, Tumbling, Analyze Fighting Ability, Body Language Reading, Scholar: Languages, Arts and Fighting, High Pain Threshold, Stealth, Tracking, Aerial Combat, Computers, Ambidexterity, Communications, Criminology, Deduction, Electronics, Forensics, Chemistry, Radiology, Biology, Physics, Aeronautics, Architecture, Engineering, Resist Domination, First Aid, Speed Reading, Lightning Calculator, Linguistics: All Earth languages

Special: Body reading: Simply by looking at someone moving, he can automatically determine with complete accuracy the Fighting, Agility, Strength, Endurance, physical and energy defenses. This takes 1 round of concentration and a successful intuition feat.


	2. Loose Ends

Paragon of the X-Men

!SPECIAL EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Two

Doug Ramsay stood there in a rage at his captor. "You've killed my father and raped my mother and sister. And now you've just killed my sister."

"Listen here, slave. I made you, so I can unmake you at any time," the arch villain answered back with assured arrogance.

"Really? So what's stopping you? If you're really capable of destroying me, I suggest you do it quickly; because after what you've done to my family, I have every reason to want to kill you!"

"You will do as I say!" Mr. Sinister ordered, using his mind control.

"No! My sister made certain that I would be able to resist not only your mind control but any kind mind control," the golden haired man stated, walking over to the chalk faced villain slowly.

"Get back! Get back!"

Doug Ramsey paused for a moment as he fought the renewed mind control until... "Free!"

"Blast it! I'll get you for this! No one defies Mr. Sinister, nobody!" the cowardly villain screamed, telepathically ordering one of the more sophisticated machines to appear from the wall, glow red with energy, and blast his former captive into oblivion.

"Aargh!"

"I can still control you. My pain ray is on you. Succumb to my control and you won't have to suffer."

"Never!" Doug screamed.

"Do it or die!"

"I'd sooner die, but I really won't have to," Paragon grunted. Upon fighting through the pain, the young man got up and walked over to the villain, making an attempt to grab him.

"You're in too much pain to do anything," Sinister cackled as he easily evaded his former captive who stumbled to the ground.

"Wrong!" Doug exclaimed as he got up, toughing out the pain.

"What the… But how?"

"I have many powers, but what I have more than anything is strong willpower!" Doug announced, answering the unfinished question. Then he began to make his way to the author of his family's destruction.

"Back! Back!"

"I'll..." But before Doug could finish his sentence, Mr. Sinister telepathically had another one of his devices come out of a wall and blast his former captive with blue ray that engulfed him, transporting him away out of his base.

_"I'm going to have to change my base of operations and deal with Doug Ramsey at a later date. But first, it's time I deal with my lying underlings." _Nasty Boys! Come forth!" Sinister ordered, walking out of his lab.

XXX

_"Where am I?" _Doug thought, taking an account of his surroundings. _"I'm over the ocean! From the looks of it, I'd say the Atlantic Ocean. I'll have to make my way back to New York and see about tending to my family's funeral."_

!WOOSH! _"Flying through the skylight through New York is just great! I don't feel the chill of the cold night air even though I'm not wearing anything more than gloves, boots, and trunks. I've even gotten used to having these wings. They're like another pair of hands. For some reason I'm perfectly comfortable with what I've turned into. Anyway, time to speed things up!"_

"Yahoo!" Paragon yelled as he flew by past the Statue of Liberty at more than a thousand miles an hour, his long hair flowing behind him as he created a fast moving golden blur. _"Not only can I fly, I can fly faster than the speed of sound if I so chose. I wonder how much more distance I can cover."_

Before the winged wonder could make another run at an even faster speed, he heard, "leave me alone!" Paragon zeroed in on the terrorized voice, swooping down into the dark alley after flying over the streets and traffic lights.

"What was that?" someone screamed as the golden blur flew into the dark alley.

"I coulda swore I saw a gold streak flying through the sky!" another passerby called out.

But before Doug could get to the girl... "Listen here, Toots! You owe us a whole lot of money, so pay up one way or another!" a large man said, reaching for the shirt of the shapely young woman as he and his cohorts dragged the buxom beauty further into the dark alley.

!RIP!SNAP! "Eeeek!"

"What a pair of assets! It'll be great breaking her in," one of the thugs commented, zeroing in on the upper body of the blond haired, young woman who had begun to sob.

"That's right."

"Why are you doing this?" the rankled young woman cried out.

You owe us, lady and you're gonna pay," the other said.

"But I don't owe you any money!"

"Yes, you do. Mike Duranti owed us some money, so he said we could have you instead. And seeing you are such a hot piece of ass, we're going to collect. Now if you want to simply pay us the money, we'll leave ya alone."

"How much is it?"

"$50,000.00, and you's is gonna pay one way or another."

"I don't have that kind of money. And I was never Mike Duranti's property! I never even wanted anything to do with him."

"All of that is irrelevant, bitch. You belong to us now."

"Hold it!" The men turned towards the impressively sounding voice to see a handsome young man with wings out and rippling muscles, standing several feet away.

"Who the F*&k are you?"

"I'm Paragon!" the young man announced, a striking pose, his massive chest heaving with every breath, as his golden battle aura arose and awed the assailants of the beautiful, half naked young girl.

"What are you doing talking to that golden fairy for? Waste him!" the leader ordered.

"You got it, boss!"

As the assailants took pot shots at him, Paragon stood there and let the bullets bounce off of his person as he regarded the gunmen with an intimidating glare. "Are you guys done wasting bullets?"

"He's standing there like nothing. How the heck did that happen?!" one of the gunmen called out.

"Those guns won't do any good against me," Paragon answered as he practically floated towards them without moving his feathers. Then he quickly reached out with his stretching prehensile wings and struck the nerves of the hands of the assailants, knocking the guns out of their hands.

"Aargh! My hand, you hurt my hand, you prick!" one of the men complained harshly as he regarded his throbbing member.

"I'll hurt more than that." Paragon flew into the midst of the thugs, spinning around rapidly as he used his wings to bitch slap the rapacious men into unconsciousness while their intended victim stood there aghast.

"What are you? Are you a mutant?" the woman asked, frightened half way to death of the winged warrior before her. Her skin turned white as she did her best to cover up her exposed bosom. "Don't hurt me, please. I don't want to die."

"Take it easy, ma'am. I just helped you. I won't hurt you."

"EeeeeK!" The woman ran right past the golden hero, screaming out of the dark alley much to Doug's shock and dismay.

_"Am I that hideous?"_

XXX

In the dark of night, Doug made his way back into the place he had called home for most of his life when he sensed a silent noise.

!RUSTLE! _"Someone's in my house." _Doug walked into the living room of the house and saw a woman rummaging through his home. She was a slender, beautiful woman standing at five feet eight inches tall with 38-24-36 measurements. The busty woman wearing a domino mask and a black body suit with an open midriff had beautifully long, silky white hair, complementing her impressive physique.

!RUSTLE! "I wonder if this place has any money. And I wonder where it is," Doug heard the woman say from his bedroom. When the woman came out of the room, she walked into the living room right into him.

"Hi there. So what are you looking for?"

"Yeow!" the intruder screamed, leaping back in an acrobatic flip, landing on her feet like a cat. "Who are you? And what are you doing here, Goldilocks?"

"I live here."

"That's impossible. The only people who lived here were the Ramsey family, and they've been missing for over a week now. I doubt you're one of them since none of them had a pair of golden wings like you do," the intruder said regarding the gorgeous body of the newcomer.

"Things change. But it's time for you to leave."

"I'm not going anywhere until the men who are looking for me leave the area."

"Is that so?"

_"This guy's practically naked; he's delicious! In addition to all of that I can tell this guy's awfully powerful. He has grace and agility even though he's just standing there. I can only hope he finds me attractive too. I should make him my partner. I can use an ally with muscles like that. His body is to die for! Wow!" _the woman thought to herself. She just couldn't keep herself from admiring the handsome, young man in front of her up and down. However, with a deep sigh, she took control of herself.

"Don't you want to share the loot with me?" the thief asked, batting her eyes at him.

"There's no loot to share. I told you this is my home already. Now get out of here!" Doug demanded, his muscular chest heaving in such a way that turned on his uninvited guest more than it intimidated her.

"Oh, come on. There are some guys out there looking for me. Why don't you let me stay with you?"

"Why don't you tell me who you are first?"

"Suffice it to say, I call myself the Black Cat," she said with a purr, practically moaning as she shifted her hips back and forth slowly. That's all you need to know. Now tell me where all the money is here."

"I'm not telling you anything. I don't care a whole lot for those who break into houses to steal or do anything else. Now hold it!" Doug immediately reached for the fast moving woman who leaped to her own left, letting him pass by her when he zipped right by her.

"I know you'd love to get your hands all over me, tall, blond and handsome, but I'm too fast for you," the silver haired woman said arrogantly with a wiggle of her ass in her opponent's direction. _"He even smells good, wings and all."_

"Is that so?" Faster than the untrained eye could follow, Paragon flew towards the fast moving burglar again. Missing his attempt to grab her arm, one of his prehensile wings accidentally grabbed the zipper on her body suit, bringing it down further to her navel, practically causing the lovely woman to come out of her midriff baring costume as his feather got caught up in there.

"He he he he he he he he!"

"What's so funny?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! That tickles! Stop!"

"Now I want some answers," Doug demanded, getting his wings tips free of his intruder, grabbing the fast moving girl as he flipped her over on her back and pinned her to the ground with him on top, facing and looking down on her.

"Whew! What kind of steroids have you been taking? Gasp! Nobody's ever pinned me down like this. My, you're strong. You really have me in a compromising position, don't you?" the woman said, smiling and pouting seductively.

"Why don't you tell me how you became so skilled?"

"Training. Sheesh, you're no slouch when it comes to speed yourself. Uncle already. No more tickling, please!" she gasped.

"All right. You're two hundred years too young to beat me anyhow."

"Two hundred years? How is that? You don't look that old."

"I was in a time warp of sorts."

"Gee, that's nice. Hwaah!" To Doug's surprise, the Black Cat wiggled out of his grasp, kneed up him in the groin, threw him off of herself, and slashed her former captor's face with invisible claws that appeared on her hands.

"Ouch!" After recovering from the attack, the golden warrior quickly grabbed the young woman again, pinning her to the ground, using his legs to restrain the woman's lithe legs while holding her arms up by her wrists. "Now calm down or else."

"Or else what? You're not going to hurt me. You're too nice a guy. I'm going to do what I want when I... Ha ha ha ha!"

"What was that?" Doug asked as his soft, gentle wing feathers got inside her open bodysuit, moved quickly, touching her sides, under her arms, and behind her neck.

"Have something more to say, hmm?" Paragon had the girl in a position where she couldn't move despite her best efforts.

"Ah, ah ha ha ha ha! Stop that! It tickles! He he he he he!"

"You going to behave? Hmm? I can do this all day. Let's try over here."

"My tummy! Hehehehehe! Oh, no! Hahahaha! That really tickles! Hehehehehehehehe! All right, mercy! Hahahahahaha! Please! Hehehehehe! I give up!" Black Cat gasped helplessly in surrender, her bosom heaving as she caught her breath.

"Had enough?"

"Yes!" his captive gasped as her body went limp, exhausted as her captor held her fast as her burgeoning bustline strained further against her open midriff leotard with her every breath. However, despite her previous efforts to escape she had been rendered helpless.

"Now who are those men looking for you?" Paragon asked, noticing her flushed and pink her flesh was.

"I'm a small time thief, looking for money; so the mob..."

"You robbed the mob?"

"Yes. These were the men who killed my father; so I wanted to get even with them by taking their money, but they caught me, and I barely got out of there alive. Gasp! Could you let me go now? I promise not to make any trouble. It's obvious I'm way too ticklish to want to make an enemy out of you," the young woman pleaded, smiling sheepishly in a sweet, helpless manner.

"All right. But I suggest you leave while I'm being so charitable," the golden man said, getting up and letting the woman go.

Then the sexy woman slinked closer to him. "There's no need to send me away so soon. You're such a handsome young man with a gorgeous body," she said, regarding Paragon's powerful wings, arms, and legs. "Why don't we get to know each other better, hmm?"

Paragon looked at his uninvited guest for a moment, admiring how her body seemed to undulate as she moved. Then he restrained himself. "As much as I'd like to, I have a whole lot to do here. My parents and sister have recently died; so now I need to take care of their funeral arrangements."

"Well, since you've tickled me into submission, can I stay here with you, please? I'll be a good little girl or a bad one if you like. You're really cute and I like your style," the silver haired woman purred as she looked him up and down.

"Well, I..."

Then the Black Cat put her arms around him and kissed him. "God, you smell good. Mmmm," she said in a husky voice, breathing heavily with her breasts pressed up against him as she caressed the small of his back." _"This guy is sweet, nice, powerful and gorgeous! He could have easily ripped me apart with his massive skill and strength. But even though I've been catty with him, he put me in my place gently. This guy's nice but assertive. I can see myself falling for this guy."_

!BOOM!CRASH! A strange group of men smashed through the side of Doug Ramsey's home, taking a wall down.

"What the..."

"So there you are, you thief! Didn't you know it was suicide to steal from the Kingpin?" a baritone voice called out, wearing grey armor with a large horn coming out the top of his head.

"That's right, Rhino," man wearing a purple and blue leotard with boomerangs all over it said. "I guess you weren't as worthless as we thought you were, Chance."

"I was never worthless, Boomerang! I told you my x-ray vision would find our quarry soon enough," the man with a technologically advanced yellow helmet and goggles, wearing a dark and light green uniform explained. "But it looks like we interrupted something. You there, Golden Boy! Get lost, before you get hurt!"

"What do you guys think you're doing? You practically wrecked the house!" Doug answered them back.

"Um, those are the guys who are chasing after me, baby. Won't you be a nice guy and protect me, hmm?" the Black Cat said, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

"All right, but we'll talk about this later." Paragon brushed her aside and stood up against the "hired guns" arrayed against him, his cape billowing in the wind. "Now I want you to leave this place right now."

The three criminals looked at Doug, pausing for a moment, temporarily impressed by his presence. "You gotta be kiddin me!" Boomerang answered.

"No, you heard me the first time!" Paragon replied harshly.

"There's no way we're gonna back down from a wet behind the ears, punk like you. Watch this!" In the blink of an eye, the man whipped out a rather thick boomerang and threw it at Doug. !BOOM!

"That was quick," the Rhino commented through all the smoke in the air.

However, when the smoke cleared Paragon stood there with his wings out and his arms akimbo, obviously unhurt.

"How did you survive that?" Boomerang said in shock.

"I'm a lot tougher than you or anything you can throw at me. Now get out of here!"

"It's time I put you in your place, little man!" Rhino came, running at the golden garbed hero who easily moved out of the way.

"Where did you go off to?" the giant bellowed, looking around.

"I'm here!" Doug announced, appearing right in front of him.

"What the…"

Before the Rhino knew what was happening, Paragon had grabbed him and threw him up into the air through the roof of his home. Then Paragon appeared right in front of him, striking him with his most powerful tae kwon do kick, knocking him back several yards. "Aaargh!" _"How is a wimp like this hurting me so badly?"_

"When I say get out, I mean stay out!" Paragon flew into the stunned Rhino, grabbed him, spun him around, and used the momentum to throw him back several more yards, then he flew into him with a charging attack that was designed more for knockback purposes than damage, sending several more miles back.

!BOOM!BOOM! "Yeow!" Doug yelled after rolling with the blow of an explosive boomerang and some concussive lasers that barely struck him in the back. Then he whipped around suddenly, eyeing Captain Boomerang and Chance giving them a frightening glare!

"I was hired to nab the Black Cat who's probably long gone by now. This guy's a super powered mutant of some kind. I didn't sign on for this!" Chance announced, turning tail and running away as fast as his legs could carry him.

"You should run away with your friend while you still can," Doug said to Captain Boomerang who had a look of shock on his face.

_"With all the carnage going on here, someone will show up here sooner or later. I better get out of here while the going's good." _"I guess I might as well leave, but I'm not the least bit afraid of you, mutie! It's just that nobody paid me to fight you. That's all." With that the man walked off into the night.

_"Now where is the Black Cat? I don't sense her anywhere around here. I bet she left while I fought with her pursuers. And to think I was beginning to like her. Oh, well. Time to go back inside and figure out..."_

"Halt!" a voice called out.

Doug turned around and saw several men wearing silver armor, carrying hi-tech weaponry, aimed at him. "Who are you?"

"Never mind who we are! You are to come with us or deal with the consequences!"

"Forget it. I'm out of here!" That being said, Paragon took off for the skies, leaving in a golden blur.

"Gun him down!" But before the men could fire Doug was out of sight.

"We missed him. Gyrich will be pissed off when he finds out about this."

XXX

An hour later: _"Where do I go from here? My home's been trashed, and now I'm a wanted criminal! I remember there being a place called the Catskill Mountains, a natural area in New York State that's northwest of New York City. I'll make myself a home out there until I can figure out what I'm going to do with my life," _Doug Ramsey contemplated as he flew over Niagara Falls to his intended destination.

As Paragon made his way towards one of the mountains, he noticed a hollow area with a small opening in it. Then he made his way inside. _"This will work. Maybe I can get some kind of electrical equipment and set it up so that it's powered by the nearby waterfall. In time it will be as good a place to live as any."_

After a couple of weeks of foraging for discarded equipment and furniture, using his architectural knowledge, electronic skills, engineering skills, genius intelligence, super human strength and flight to make himself a home within one of the caves in the mountains near a waterfall, he harnessed the waterfall for power and electricity. He even had a refrigerator, running water and plumbing. In addition to that, Doug was able to make himself a satellite and send it into space, controlling it from his new home.

_"Whew! Fortunately, there's fish and vegetation around here for food. Now where do I go from here? I have a shortwave radio and police scanner here, so I guess I can show up to fight guys like Mr. Sinister when they show their ugly heads."_

Then Doug's police band radio went off. _**"There's a disturbance going on in New York. The creature known as the Abomination is wrecking havoc. The Avengers are unavailable, being on another mission!"**_

_"That's my cue. Time to head for New York City." _With that Doug flew off, the rock entrance to his cave opening up to let him out, closing by the time he was long gone.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Let me know what you think of this with a review.


	3. A Rogue Guest

Paragon of the X-Men

!SPECIAL EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Three

Paragon took off for New York City from his hidden base in a cave in the Catskill Mountains, passing by Niagara Falls._ "Time to see exactly how powerful I really am. I wonder how strong this Abomination guy is. I'll need to set up a data base of some kind when I get back," _Paragon contemplated as he increased his flight speed, leaving a golden blur in his wake on his way to the scene of the chaos.

By the time Paragon got there, he saw a large, dark green, scaly creature bellow as he threw a police car in the direction of several oncoming police dressed in exotic combat armor which was a pale comparison to what the super hero Ironman was reputed to wear.

"Look out!" !SMASH!CRUNCH! !BOOM! "Take coverrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Aaarghhhh!" the police screamed as they ran away with their hands covering their ears, doing their best to avoid the flying debris, some failing to do so.

"This is Paige Turner from the Daily Globe! Right now the creature known as the Abomination is wreaking havoc on the street. The police are hoping that someone like Spider-Man comes along but it doesn't look like anybody's going to show up to fight this guy. Oh, wait! There's a golden blur on its way here!" the reporter exclaimed as the cameraman with her taped the whole event. "He's a drop dead gorgeous man with golden blond hair and wings. He's stopping right in front of the Abomination! What will happen now?!"

"And who are you supposed to be, Golden Boy?" the creature called out.

"I am Paragon!" Doug announced, letting his golden battle aura increase and his wings spread out in order to impress his opponent and everyone else around them. "Now, let us fight and do battle!"

"Oh, Really? I've defeated the Hulk. What makes a puny, pretty boy like you think you'd have any kind of chance against someone like me?"

"I have mad hand to hand combat skills, a great deal of strength, and power," the young man explained fearlessly.

"I don't believe this! I came here hoping to trounce the Avengers or the Hulk, and a DragonballZ wannabe shows up instead. I'm going to rip your wings off, little man!"

Then Paragon put his hand out towards his opponent and motioned him to come at him. "Just bring it."

"You're in a real hurry to die, aren't ya, golden boy? We'll I'm gonna accommodate you." The Abomination came barreling his way through all the leftover carnage he had created. As the creature's inhumanly large fist came flying at him, it seemed like slow motion to Paragon who easily moved out the way and grabbed the oncoming punch, throwing the man-made creature in a martial arts fashion over his shoulder several yards away and on to the ground in a heap.

!SMASH! "Oof! How dare you do that to me?" the creature bellowed, getting up and power leaping towards his new opponent. He had attempted to smash into him feet first, but things didn't work out that way as his target clapped his hands together. Then he shoved his hands in the direction of the oncoming creature using the shockwave energy to knock the Abomination back several feet into a nearby car smashing it into bits.

_"This guy is practically invulnerable. I'm going to have to wear this guy down." _Paragon shot up into the sky, executing aerial maneuvers. Then he zoomed down his opponent like a dive bomber whacking his opponent on the top of the head as he flew by.

"Aaargh! You schmuck! I'll get you for this!" the Abomination screamed loudly, trying to shake the cobwebs out of his head.

"You won't be getting anyone too soon. Here, this is for you."

"Oooh!" the creature screamed upon getting hit with another passing shot to the head. "You cannot defeat me; my power is too great."

"Power is nice but I can tell from here that you're lacking in speed, agility, finesse, and hand to hand combat skills," Paragon explained, hovering in the air several feet in front and above of him as he took his measure and perceived his opponent's strengths and weaknesses.

"What do you think you're doing, looking down on me? What do I need finesse for? Here have this!" Upon recovering from the previous attacks, the Abomination quickly grabbed a nearby armored car and threw it at his floating opponent who caught the car and gently put it down.

"Thanks, Goldie," one of the guards who were still inside the car said with a great deal of gratitude.

"You're welcome, officer," Paragon answered, after having done his best to put the vehicle down without hurting the occupants.

"Think you're so smart? I'll show you! Raawrra!" With an unforeseen burst of speed, the dark green behemoth leaped into Paragon, attempting to strike his opponent with a powerful and surprising well placed somersault kick before the golden haired hero could do anything else, but despite the speed of this surprise attack, Paragon was all the faster.

"You have no fighting ability at all. All you have is strength and toughness. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you've given so many other super heroes so much trouble. You are easily dealt with and easily defeated," Doug explained as he easily avoided more of the creature's frustrated attempts to nail him with a powerful punch.

"Shut up. You're worse than Spider-Man! I'm gonna..."

"You're not doing anything but go down!" Paragon answered, flying out of the way the creature's clumsy attacks.

"What? How dare you think you can defeat me?"

"I've done telling you; now I will show you." The golden super hero backed up in the air for a moment. Then Paragon flew back a few miles away at super speed, zooming back with more speed and momentum, smashing into his opponent's midsection fists first.

"Aaargh!" The Abomination staggered back, trying to shake himself out of being stunned. However, before the creature could do anything else. Paragon nailed him with several punch and kick combinations, striking the monster's midsection with well-placed hits. Then he blasted the creature with a powerful energy attack the bowled him over. While his opponent teeter tottered, Paragon zoomed in and punched the same area in a rapid fire fashion, ending the attack attack with an elbow to the chin that rocked the Abomination's head back and upward. Then he kneed him in the groin, forcing the creature to lurch forward. At that point, Paragon nailed him with a powerful uppercut that sent the green scaled monster several feet high into the sky, then crashing down to the ground.

"Aaargh! Now you're going to get it! Roarrrr!" The Abomination rushed Paragon, coming at him at full speed, missing his fast moving target when he found himself being throwing into the air. Then Paragon flew into him at super speed fists first, knocking him further up into the sky.

"Oof! What are you doing?" the scaly, green skinned giant bellowed.

"You'll see." That being said, Paragon flew up towards his opponent and grabbed him by the feet, spinning him around as fast as he possibly could.

"Whoaa! Whoaaa!" the creature screamed, getting dizzy.

"I've grown tired of this fight; so I'm sending you to the ocean. Enjoy your stay at Club Atlantic." Upon Paragon letting him go, the Abomination went flying towards the sea. Then Doug blasted him with a force blast that knocked his opponent back even more.

"I'll get you for thiiiiiis!" the man-monster screamed as he got further and further away.

Upon the defeat of the scaly green creature, Paragon touched down and took stock of the damage. "All's well that ends well," the young man said to no one in particular as he wiped his hands together as if he had just taken out the garbage.

"Who are you?" the reporter on the scene, Paige Turner called out, running up to him and putting a microphone in his face.

"My name is Paragon," the young man answered. The reporter had long, flowing blond hair with flawless, milky white skin. The beautiful woman also had a busty, curvaceous figure and hard body that seemed to stand at attention.

"Paragon? There's no false modesty coming from you, is there?" the reporter replied in a smart aleck manner._ "Come to think of it, this guy doesn't have too much modesty with the way he's hardly dressed. Despite all that, the look works for him." _

"I'm the ultimate fighting machine, a paragon combat whether physically going at it toe to toe or shooting off energy from a distance as you have seen just now."

"Really?"

"Yes. I have a plethora of fighting skills that I have mastered, backed up with hundreds of years of training. Then there's acrobatic agility and reaction time. In addition to that I have a massive amount of strength, endurance, and toughness."

"You really have the total package, don't you?"

"Yes."

The reporter silently sighed as she looked the attractive superhero up and down again with an uninhibited smile on her face. "Now it's not hard to see why you got the idea to call yourself Paragon. Are you with the Avengers?"

"No, I'm not with the Avengers."

"Then why did you show up to fight the Abomination?" the reporter asked, admiring the handsome super hero.

"Since I have super powers of my own, I feel that I should do what I can to help out against super powered threats," Paragon answered, taking a deep breath as he looked solemnly into the camera that was on him.

_"This guy is so gorgeous! His golden hair and winged body are to die for. I wonder whether or not he has a girlfriend." _

"I see. So you're a costumed vigilante?"

"No, not really. I'm simply doing what I can to help society," Paragon answered.

"He's a mutant! He has to be one. Look at the wings he has!" someone in the crowd called out.

"He's a hero!" another yelled.

"No! Put him in jail!" another called out vigorously.

"Anyway," Doug said, ignoring the audience to his previous battle. "I hope to prove to everyone that I'm one of the good guys. Now it's time for me to depart."

"Wait. What is your real name?" the reporter asked.

"Call me Paragon."

"That's the guy from earlier!" Men wearing sophisticated armor, carrying hi-tech laser rifles came running towards the golden hero, each one drawing a bead on him.

"I need to go. See you some other time." With that, Doug raised his arm and took off into the sky, leaving behind a golden blur in his wake.

"Gun him down!" !ZAP!BLAST! Despite the attempts to shoot the hero out of the sky, their intended target flew off, avoiding their laser bolts.

"He's gone, sir."

"Blast it! If we don't nab him quickly he'll join either the X-Men or the Avengers. If that happens he'll be connected with a prominent group and out of reach of our control," the leader of the squad explained.

"Who are you guys?" the reporter asked, placing the microphone in front of the squad leader.

"Get that F#*$ing microphone out of my face!" With that, the armored men stormed off.

XXX

"Whew!" Paragon exclaimed, arriving at his hidden base in the Catskill Mountains. _"That was one hard battle. But right now I need to find Mr. Sinister and wreck vengeance on him for what he did to my family."_

Doug then pressed a few buttons on his computer. _"Good. I've just accessed some surveillance satellite footage. Sooner or later I'll figure out where Sinister is and what he is doing. And when I get my hands on him!" _

!BEEP!BEEP! _"That's it. There he is in the Arizona Dessert fighting another group of people. It won't take me too much time to get there, but there's no time to lose, so I'm off."_

Paragon flew off, faster than the speed of sound. But as he was half way there, he ran into something. !WHAM! "What the…"

"I did that."

Doug looked up to see an impressive man wearing a red helmet and uniform with purple trim. His purple cape billowed in the wind as he levitated in the air above him, looking down on him.

"Who are you?" the golden man demanded, hating being interrupted in his quest.

"Watch your tone with me, young man. But in answer to your question, I am Magneto, master of magnetism," the man said with a booming voice.

"And why have you just put a magnetic wall in front of me? Remove it. I have places to go and people to see," Paragon answered fearlessly.

"Silence! I'm here because I've noticed your energy trail. You're quite powerful. Thus I've come here to offer you a place in my upcoming plans. I'm going to take over the world one day, and those who help me in this endeavor will be generously rewarded. But those who have opposed me will be ruthlessly punished."

"Look here, Magneto. I don't have time for this. And on top of that, I've heard a whole lot about you. I know all about the things you've done; so there's no way I'm going to help you oppress everyone. Now get out of my way!"

"You dare defy me?" At that point Magneto attempted to blast Paragon by creating an impression from the magnetic force wall he had made, but the hero flew out of the way.

"That tears it!" Paragon flew back dozens of miles. Then he came back flying into the magnetic force field of his new tormentor at super human speed, smashing his way into it!

"Ungh!" Magneto moaned as he felt the power of Paragon's attack weakening his magnetic field. "You are finished!"

"Finished? I'm just getting started." At that point Paragon blasted the field with his most powerful energy blast, making the magnetic field waver a little more.

"Fool!" Magneto called out, using his powers to knock his opponent back several miles, sending him back in the direction from which he had come, end over end.

_"I'm not giving up!" _Paragon thought to himself as he recovered from the recent attack. A few seconds later Paragon made his way back, but by the time he had returned to where the fight was occurring the Master of Magnetism was gone.

_"It's obvious I've made an enemy, but how much time did that fight eat up?" _the winged warrior thought to himself, taking off with lightning speed for his previous destination. However, when he got there he found the area was practically deserted.

"Mr. Sinister! Come and face me, you coward!" Paragon called out, defiantly raising his fist in the air to no one in particular. Then he searched the area, quickly moving the carnage of the previous battle around until he noticed something moving.

"Ungh!"

_"What was that?" _Paragon walked over to a large boulder and casually picked it up and threw it off the young woman under it.

"Ooh!" the young woman moaned, barely moving, her skintight clothes torn to shreds. She was a slender yet busty woman with a curvaceous figure. The woman's auburn colored hair that had a white stripe running through it blew in the wind as she stirred a little.

_"She's so beautiful!" _Doug thought to himself as he regarded her barely concealed bosom which threatened to come out of the remnant of what she was barely wearing.

"Oooh!"

"Are you all right, miss?" Doug asked the barely conscious girl, kneeling down to help her. "I'll take you to a hospital."

For a moment she looked up at her would be rescuer, giving him a look of shock and surprise when she felt him holding her head up. "Cough! No! Ah'll be all right. Ah just need a lil rest and water. Cough!" With that she slipped into unconsciousness.

"All right, I'll help you." Doug picked up the scantily clad young woman and took off for his base.

XXX

"Ooh," the woman Doug had brought to his lair moaned as she woke up. _"Where am Ah now?" _The young woman took notice of her surroundings. _"This place looks almost as sophisticated as the X-Men mansion." _

Then the guest got out of bed and looked around. _"Golly, Ah'm naked! How long have Ah been out? And why did Ah have so many dreams of a gorgeous man with long blond hair and wings gently seeing to mah wounds and lovingly bathing meh?"_

"So, you're awake."

"Eeek!" the naked girl screamed, covering the front of herself. She blushed pink from head to toe as she regarded her host who casually wearing a pair of shorts and tennis shoes, revealing gorgeous pectorals, a six pack, and a pair of golden wings. "Yah have a lot of explaining ta do, buster!"

"Fair enough. Here. You can wear this," Doug said, handing her a robe.

As soon as the beautiful young woman put the robe on she spoke up. "Now why am Ah here and where is here, anyways?"

"This place is a man-made cave in the Catskill Mountains near Niagara Falls. My name is Paragon. What is your name?"

"People call meh Rogue, Paragon. Modest name yah got for yourself there."

"I'm not a horribly modest person."

"Ah can see that," Rogue replied, regarding the state of dress of the sexy, young man.

"Anyway, I'm happy to see you're doing so well," Paragon said, blushing little as his guest smilingly admired him while he regarded the somewhat open midriff buxom state of his guest, whose robe proved to be a little too small for her.

"Eyes front, Mister! What exactly did yah do to me while Ah was unconscious?"

"After using my first aid skills to make sure you'd recover from the beating you had from when I found you, I took off what little you were wearing and gave you a sponge bath."

"Ya did what?" Rogue exclaimed, putting her arms around herself as if she was still naked.

"I had to. You smelled awful and you were out for three days."

"Yah mean yah actually touched meh?"

"Look, Rogue. I wasn't trying to be some kind of pervert or anything like that, but you had wounds all over your body which had to be cleaned and dressed. The speed at which you recovered surprised me, and fortunately, I had the medical equipment here to tend to you. As soon as you've had something to eat, we can figure out where you live. At that point, I'll take you home. Then I'll go back to my plans of getting revenge on Mr. Sinister for what he did to my family."

"Yah know Mr. Sinister?"

"Yes. He's the guy who left you for dead in the desert which may have been for the best, seeing what his goons did to my sister."

"Exactly what kinda relationship do yah have with Mr. Sinister now?" the young woman asked, her eyes lightening up with interest.

"It's not a relationship; it's war." Then Doug explained what happened to his family and what happened afterwards.

"Ah understand. But there's one other thing."

"What's that?" Doug asked, noticing the seriousness of the woman in front of him.

"I still have a hard time believing that yah touched me without anything happening to yah."

"What do you mean?"

"Most people who touch meh end up unconscious due to shock, so Ah'd like to try something." Rogue then walked over to him and touched his hair very carefully. When nothing happened she put her fingers through his long, golden hair.

"What are you doing?"

"Just bear with meh for a moment." Then Rogue put her arms around him, caressing his back and touching his wings.

"Are these things reals?" Rogue asked, referring to his feathered limbs.

"_I could ask you the same thing."_ "Yes, they're real," Doug answered.

"Mmmm, she moaned, rubbing up against him, almost coming out of the robe she wore. Eventually she began to touch his chest and other parts of his exposed body. "Sigh."

"Are you enjoying yourself? I find you attractive, but I'd rather not be jerked around," Doug explained to the overly affectionate woman.

"Sorry. That's the first time Ah've been able to touch someone without draining their powers dry like a vampire. And now come to think of it, Ah wasn't all together unconscious when yah took care of me without taking advantage of mah helpless condition. Ah won't forget that. Your touch was gentle and loving," Rogue said, her protruding breasts heaving and threatening to come out of the robe she wore.

"You have the ability to drain other people's powers?"

"Yes. And Ah can't even shut it off. Ah drain people whenever Ah have skin to skin contact with them. But for some reason that doesn't happen to yah," Rogue explained.

"I see. I'm immune to power drains and anything of that nature. But are you sure you're not falling in love with the fact that your touch doesn't drain me, or are you in love with me as I am? As much as I like you, I'd like to be sure of your intentions," Doug answered calmly.

"Ah do like yah. You've been very good to me, but the fact that Ah was able to touch and be touched by yah does make a huge difference," Rogue said, looking up at him. Then she let her fingers trace the roundness of his well-formed pectorals. Unable to keep a small smile from forming on her face, she let her fingers work their way down the middle of his six-pack abdominal muscles. Eventually she stopped and seriously looked Doug in the eyes, her breasts heaving as she sighed. "We can take things slow, but don't pretend yah don't like meh too. Yah haven't been able to take your eyes off of meh ever since Ah walked out of the bed yah placed meh in without any clothes on."

"Um," Doug stuttered.

"That's ah' right though. Ah can't keep mah eyes off of you either." Rogue gave her host the most charming smile she could muster while breathing in and out deeply despite the fact her bosom threatened to come out of what she was wearing or maybe because of it.

Doug stared at her admiringly for a moment. _"God, she's beautiful!"_ Then he got his composure. "I see." Doug paused momentarily as he blushed helplessly. "Now that we've gotten that settled, how about having something to eat? As you can see, I have supplies and everything I need to sustain myself here."

"Much obliged, Ah am rather famished."

Rogue's eyes went wide in surprise as she saw Doug go to what looked like a refrigerator and take some food out, cooking it in a technologically superior makeshift stove while setting a table with two plates including silverware he had in the middle of his main meeting room. "By the way, Sugah, do yah have a bathroom of some kind round here? Ah'd also like to wear something besides this robe."

"I have some spare clothes, but they'll probably be a little big on you," Doug explained, pointing to a small closet. "The bathroom is right over there next to where the clothes are. You can take a shower too if you like."

"Thanks, darlin," Rogue answered, making her way to the closet and bathroom.

By the time Rogue had finished, she came out wearing a t-shirt and a pair shorts along with some boots. "The food smells good. What is it?"

"New York Lobster with vinaigrette, seaweed salad with carrots and cheesecake for dessert," Doug answered, sitting down and motioning for his guest to do the same.

"How'd yah get alla this?" Rogue asked with a look of shock on her face.

"Sometimes I buy what I need but more often than not I can find food from around here," Doug answered, motioning to the area outside.

"Where are yah getting your power and water from? It surprised me when Ah was able to take a shower with hot water."

Doug motioned to the outside. "There's plenty of power and water outside. We're right next to Niagara Falls after all."

"Have you somehow 'hooked' this place up to Niagara falls in order to get power?"

"Yes."

"Ah have to say Ah'm impressed. What yah've done here would have had to have required a great deal of genius. The food is good as well," Rogue complimented with a smile.

"Thanks."

"But why do yah insist on living all the way out here in the boondocks?"

"It's my secret base of operations from which I plan to work against super villains like Sinister and others. I've already taken on the creature called the Abomination. I'll stop other criminals in time. I even plan to make patrols over New York City much like that Spider-Man guy does," Paragon answered stoically.

"I see. I'm with a group who fight in order to keep a dream alive. We're called the X-Men. Are you by any chance a mutant?" the beautiful young woman asked after using a napkin to clean her mouth upon the end of her meal.

"Yes. My main mutant power is the ability to understand many languages; this includes body language. By the way, what happened to you right before I found you when you were left to die in the desert?" Doug asked while regarding his guest.

"Sinister was planning something big, so we X-Men showed up to stop him. Oh! That monster still has mah friends held captive! Hate to eat and run, but ah have to go. My friends need me," Rogue said, putting the napkin down and getting up to leave.

"Then I better go with you. If Mr. Sinister is involved, I'm the best qualified to deal with him."

"All right. Ah may need all the help Ah can get. Ah'll also have the chance to introduce you to everyone. There's no real need for yah to go living by yahself out here. But first I want to stop by Greenwich Village where our mansion is located."

"There's no need for that."

Rogue and Paragon turned to see, "Wolverine!" Then out of the shadows came, "Gambit!"

"We've done already dealt with Mr. Sinister, chere. Now what do we have going on here?" Gambit said, glaring at Rogue's golden haired host.

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: Be here next time when Paragon meets the other X-Men. I want to thank all of you for your review. Here are the names of the people who gave me reviews for the last chapter.

Radio Driver, Super Sailor Ganymede, Redzorin, They call me Bruce, luger 7, Sir Thames


	4. Rogue's Story

Paragon of the X-Men

!SPECIAL EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Four

"So what be goin on here?" Gambit demanded in a cold, even tone.

"We were discussing how we could rescue you from Mr. Sinister, but it looks as if you really didn't need any rescuing after all. I call myself Paragon. Greetings, Gambit," Doug said politely, putting his hand out.

!SLAP! "Shut up!" After batting his hand away, Gambit turned towards Rogue again. "What exactly were you two doing here for the last three days? You know how hard it was for Wolverine to track you down here through all this water out in the middle of nowhere?"

"It wasn't that much of a problem, Cajun," the shorter man interjected.

However, the master thief continued. "While we were off fighting for our lives, doing everything we could to destroy Mr. Sinister's world destroying plans you were out here living it up with nature boy here!"

"It's good that you stopped Sinister's plans whatever they were. Where is he now, and what were his plans?" the golden haired host asked, turning towards the uninvited guest.

"No one's talking to you, stranger! And don't interrupt me when I'm talking to my woman!"

"Shut up, Gambit! Ah'm not your woman no more. Not after what yah did with that barmaid! Ah told ya we were through anyhow!"

"That was a mistake, chere. How many times do I have to apologize for it?"

"Yah only apologized because Ah caught the two of yah together!"

"I oughtta go back to her!"

"Fine then! Yah can go back to that woman or have any other girl yah take a fancy to. But leave meh alone!"

"What? Leave you to be taken vantage of by some fair haired, pretty boy?"

"Paragon here never took advantage of meh the whole time Ah was here. All he did was take care of meh and tend to mah wounds for the last three days. He's been a perfect gentleman!" Rogue snapped back in a rage.

"Wait a minute!" Wolverine interjected. "How did this guy take care of your wounds without touching you and getting himself absorbed?"

"For some reason, Paragon here is immune to power drains. Here let meh show yah." Rogue immediately grabbed Paragon, putting her arms around him and kissing him full on the lips.

"Gasp!" Gambit exclaimed in shock as Rogue caressed the young man's bare back while rubbing up against him.

"Yah see? He's been very good to meh, instead of flirting with every girl he sees!"

"You blowin everthin out of proportion!"

"The Cajun's right, Rogue. You've only known this guy for three days. Even though I can't sense anything funny about this guy, I still think you're falling for him too quickly. If you like him that much you oughtta take things a whole lot slower," Wolverine stated stoically.

"How dare yah make judgments about mah love life?" the beautiful woman yelled.

"You're acting irrational, Rogue. I'm not telling you what to do with your life; I'm telling you what my senses are telling me. You need to calm yourself down," Wolverine stated, standing his ground. "In fact, Blondie here really isn't the problem right now; you are!"

"That's right, Chere," Gambit interjected. "Wolverine knows what he's talking about. You should ditch this guy right now. He might be using mind control on you for all we know."

"I didn't say that, Cajun! Nor did I say there was anything wrong with Rogue's new friend. I just stated that the fact that this guy took care of her after she was injured and the fact that he can actually touch her may be causing Rogue to drop her guard. The best thing we can do is go back to the mansion where Chuck can use his machines to analyze this guy thoroughly."

"You want to bring this guy into the mansion, Wolverine? That's crazy!"

"We can meet this guy, but I'm not planning on staying there forever. I have a lot of things I'm planning on doing," Doug answered.

"We don't need you!" Gambit spat out. "You can stay in this waterfall for all I care!"

"I don't know what your problem is, Gambit, but if you people don't want me to go with you, you can leave."

"No!" Rogue stammered, putting her arms around him tightly. "We can all leave together. We might as well go right now."

"Good, then it's settled," Wolverine stated.

"I don like it one bit."

"It's settled, Cajun. I suppose you flew up here," Wolverine replied, regarding Paragon's wings."

"That's right. I can fly with the use of my wings, and my name is Paragon."

"Whatever." Wolverine shot the golden haired man a look for a moment. "You can carry me back to the mansion while Rogue carries Gambit."

"You can fly?" Paragon said in surprise as he turned towards the striped haired girl.

"Yeah. Yah can follow meh over there. Let's go!"

XXX

A few hours later in the main living room of the mansion:

"There is nothing really wrong with either Rogue or her new friend," Professor X stated matter of factually after having looked over all of his computer instruments. "In fact, Paragon here is a mutant."

"I knew that, Professor, but I still don't understand why Rogue drains everyone except for me."

"You said something about Mr. Sinister experimenting on you."

"That's right. His goal was to make me his warrior slave."

"I believe Mr. Sinister planned to use you against us. That's why you're immune to Rogue's power drains. My instruments also tell me that you have an energy blast that would affect Shadowcat even if she was using her phasing powers. It's a good thing for us you escaped from him. By the way, how did you escape him?" Professor X asked with a pause.

"My sister who was also a mutant used her mental powers to free me."

"Hmm. What happened to her?" Charles asked.

The young man paused for a moment. "After his goons slaughtered my parents and raped her, Sinister killed her," Paragon said, shaking his fist in a rage. "This has all been interesting, but it's time for me to leave now. I have a whole lot of work to do."

"That being?" the seated man asked, giving the young man a pert look.

"My goal is the destruction of Mr. Sinister and his gang. He is pure evil and needs to be stopped."

"I see. Missions based on revenge rarely go well. I would suggest you come to live here as one of my students."

"A student? I guess I can finish my post graduate schooling from here, Professor."

"All right. Do you want to tell me your real name? I seriously doubt your name is Paragon despite your powers and abilities," Professor X replied, clasping his hands together.

"Since I can tell you're honorable by just looking at you, I will tell you. My name is Doug Ramsey," the young man answered.

"I see. Your family is reputed to have died at the hands of a serial murderer."

"The murderers were Sinister's miscreants. Frankly, it's time for me to go."

"Don't leave, Doug," Rogue requested as she reached out to him. "Ah haven't forgotten how you saved mah life and didn't treat meh like a piece of meat, the way so many other men would have done."

"There's no reason for me to stay here, Rogue. I like you, but there's too much I have to..."

"Leave already! We don need you here no how!" Gambit said harshly.

"I would still like you to join us in our fight against people like Mr. Sinister," Professor X answered, Gambit's protestations notwithstanding. "We can always use another hand in our dream to bring mutants and non-mutants together in harmony."

Paragon looked at everyone there. Then his eyes centered on Rogue who smiled sweetly at him. "All right. It might be better for me to be part of a group."

"Yes!" Rogue exclaimed, jumping up in the air and putting her arms around the newcomer.

"What?! We don need him! I don't think he can handle the tough life we X-Men lead," Gambit announced fiercely.

At that moment the other current members of the X-Men walked into the control room. "It's time to introduce you to the other current members of the X-Men team. The leader is Ororo Munroe, code named Storm." Doug noticed a bewitchingly beautiful, black woman with long white hair, wearing a headdress. Her uniform was black with yellow trim that consisted of what looked like a swimsuit with her stomach, arms and legs bare. She also wore long, thigh high boots.

"This is Kurt Wagner, code named Nightcrawler." Doug saw a tall, slender yet muscular man who was an unnatural indigo color. He wore a body suit that was black with red trim and white gloves and feet coverings as he sported a long tail.

"And this is Peter Rasputin, code named Colossus." A large, very muscular man waved at Doug. He wore a red and yellow uniform that bared his legs, sides, midriff, and arms.

_"This guy's a bruiser, but what can he actually do?" _Doug thought to himself.

"This is Rachel Summers, code named Marvel Girl," Professor X said, motioning to a slender yet somewhat busty, young girl with shoulder length, red hair, wearing a tube top and skirt that was green in the middle and yellow on the sides, leaving her stomach bare

"And last, but not least is Kitty Pryde, code named Shadowcat." Shadowcat wore a dark blue bodysuit with light blue leggings. She was a good looking girl with long, curly hair and a lithe, agile body.

"And this, everyone, is Doug Ramsey using the codename of Paragon," the professor explained, happy to have another member on his team.

"You have a whole army here, Professor. Joining up with these people will be very interesting," Doug said.

"That's some kind of costume you got there, Dougie," Kitty Pryde said, regarding the fact that his well-formed pectorals and abdominal muscles were bare as he only wore gloves, boots, and what looked like swimming trunks.

"I think it's kind of tacky," Rachel said without taking her eyes off of his gorgeous upper body.

"Maybe, but the look works for him," Kitty replied with a sigh.

"I'll have someone show you to your room. Later on you'll be apprised of your new duties," the professor explained.

"Ah'll show him to his room right now, Professor!" Rogue volunteered. "There's a spare room right here next to mine. Ah'll take you there," the girl announced, taking Paragon by the arm and dragging him to his room.

Kitty and Rachel watched the two of them go, smiling and nodding to each other. "I've never seen Rogue so happy," Rachel commented, giving Kitty a knowing look.

"That's right. She finally has an opportunity to get some. The guy's hot too. Can't blame her at all," Kitty responded.

As soon as Rogue and Doug had arrived at the door, the blond haired mutant opened the door and walked in, the girl with him walking right in after him. "Thanks, Rogue. I can handle things from here," Paragon explained as he looked around.

"Since we're here together, Ah might as well fill yah in on what we do here. And by the way, Rogue is mah code name. Mah real name is Anne Marie," the young woman explained as she sat on the bed, took her shoes off, and made herself comfortable.

"Professor X has told me that I would find out about my duties later. Now I need to get used to my new surroundings."

"Why don't Ah tell yah about mehself since Ah already know everything about yah?"

"All right," Doug answered, sitting on the bed next to her.

"We were a dirt poor family living in Mississippi when Ah found out about mah powers. Ah was thirteen years old at the time. Ah had kissed some boy Ah had a crush on at the time. But as yah can probably guess I drained him. After that, I took off running. By the time I had made it back home, my parents were there waiting for me."

FLASHBACK

"Cody's parents called here and told us that yah put him in a coma. What happened, Anne Marie?" her father demanded with her mother right behind him.

"Ah don't know, Pa. Ah just kissed him and he just passed out," Anne Marie answered.

"What did yah do, Anne Marie?" her mother demanded as she grabbed her by the arm. "Cody's mother thinks you're a witch... Ungh!" At that point the middle aged woman passed out, dropping to the ground.

"Yah are a witch! What's wrong with yah?" her father demanded.

"Ah don't know what Ah did! I'm sorry! All Ah did was touch him!"

"Git! Leave here and never come back!" the man demanded.

"But, Pa!" Anne Marie pleaded with tears in her eyes. "Where will Ah go?"

"That's not our concern. Just git!"

"Yes!" her mother demanded, recovering from what had recently happened to her. "Git out of here!"

The teenage girl solemnly grabbed her coat and walked out of the patch wood home never to return.

FLASHBACK ENDED

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Doug said, putting his arms around her. "How did you become one of the X-Men?"

"Well," the young woman responded, still teary eyed. "Right after Ah left home, Ah lived on the street and in the woods, doing mah best to survive. After a couple years, a rogue scientist from the government named Oliver Trask found meh after one of the men who worked for him felt meh up while I was sitting at a diner for lunch. This guy wouldn't take no for an answer. And when he put his hands down mah shirt he passed out. After that happened, Ah ran out of there. But unknown to meh at the time, his friends and coworkers chased after me. When they caught up with meh, they blasted meh in the back with some kind of stun ray."

Anne Marie paused for a moment, feeling a little better when she noticed that Doug was giving her his undivided attention.

"Anyway," the girl continued. "Ah woke up later in pain and tied up to a machine along with some others after some mad scientists juiced meh up on a lot of power that almost killed meh. Then they forced meh to permanently drain several different people who were each in a coma and brain dead. These people had various abilities and skills. It was hard to go through all that pain again and again and again; Ah almost died from the strain. As it was, Ah passed out. Ah don't know exactly how long Ah was there, but Ah was barely alive by the time the X-Men found meh. Afterwards, they took meh in, and Professor X helped meh to deal with what happened."

Doug regarded the five foot eight inches tall, 135 pound, buxom, shapely yet slender beauty who had laid her head on his shoulders. Eventually she laid down and fell asleep. The young woman laid there in a fetal position with her arms huddled against herself, her head on the pillow, sleeping like a baby with her thumb near her mouth. _"She looks so sweet sleeping there. I hate to wake her. I'll just let her rest for now. Come to think of it, I can use some rest as well. From reading Professor Xavier's body language, tomorrow will be a hard day."_

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I've changed Rogue's strength and abilities for this fanfic, so here are her stats.

Rogue (Anne Marie)

FIGHTING: REMARKABLE(30) This level of fighting means natural and superior talent.

AGILITY: REMARKABLE(30) This level of agility and reflexes is equal to the ability to do acrobatic feats.

STRENGTH: INCREDIBLE (40) This level of strength means the ability to lift(press) 10 tons.

ENDURANCE: INCREDIBLE (40) This level of endurance is one level enhanced above the human limit.

REASON: GOOD(10) This level of intelligence is above average.

INTUITION: EXCELLENT(20) This level of awareness means fine attention to details

PSYCHE: REMARKABLE(30) This level means trained to resist mind control

HEALTH: 140

KARMA: 60

RESOURCES: GOOD

POPULARITY: 0

POWERS:

True Invulnerability: Incredible (This means being able to withstand 10 tons worth of force including physical, energy, blunt or killing attacks)

True Flight: Remarkable(This means being able to fly at 225 miles per hour)

Regeneration: Excellent

Metabolic Resistance: Rogue has an Amazing rank level resistance to Drugs, Toxins and disease.

Psi-Screen: Having absorbed so many minds and abilities has made it hard to mind probe or control Rogue, thus she has Unearthly invulnerability to mental powers except for illusions.

Power Absorbtion: Total drain of attributes, powers, and skills upon physical contact. If Rogue has contact with her target for a round, she gains the targets' memories, powers, abilities & talents for 6-60 rounds. Target falls unconscious

Machines & Energy beings are immune,

If Rogue is in contact for more than 1 round, She must make a Psyche FEAT or permanently take over the powers with a loss of 1 rank of Psyche

TALENTS

Martial Arts: A(tae kwon do), B(street fighting), C(jiu jitsu), D(the inherent ability to slam or stun anyone despite their toughness) Aerial Combat, Detective, Weapons Master, Resist Domination, Multilingual (English, French, Spanish, Italian), Acrobatics, Tumbling, First Aid, Streetwise, French and Italian Cooking, Baking, Survival


	5. Danger Room Training

Paragon of the X-Men

!SPECIAL EFFECTS! _"THOUGHTS"_

Chapter Five

"Aieeeeee!"

"Easy, Anne-Marie!" Doug calmed the shaken girl down who opened her tearful eyes and looked up at his soothing countenance. She was awash in sweat to the point that the clothes she had fallen asleep in were drenched.

"Oh. Ah'm all right. Ah... Ah just had a horrible nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Doug asked, lying right next to her. Then Rogue stood up in the bed with a start.

"Yah didn't take mah clothes off?"

"No, I didn't."

"Golly. Ah hate it when Ah fall asleep wearing mah clothes," Anne Marie said in reply as she proceeded to relieve herself of her raiment. When she was finished all she was wearing was her panties.

"Um. Are you sure about what you're doing?" Doug asked, finding it hard to take his eyes off of the Southern starlet.

"Don't worry about it. Yah've seen meh in mah starkers before. Why are yah blushing now?" Rogue said as she got comfortable in the bed.

"I saw you as a patient before. Now you're um... Um..."

"Just come here and hold meh, sugah. That's what Ah really need right now."

XXX

"Mmmm," Anne Marie moaned a few hours later when she woke up. The striped haired girl sat up to see Doug's well developed back and wings while he engaged in slow and precise martial arts movements, wearing only pajamas bottoms. He seemed to float even though his feet were still on the ground as he went through his paces. _"Wow! He looks so wonderful! Is he doing some kind of dance?"_

"So you're awake," Doug said without pausing in his workout.

"Why didn't yah wake meh?" Anne-Marie asked.

"You looked so sweet laying there that I didn't want to disturb you. So did you have a nice sleep?"

"Ah slept well in your arms despite the nightmare."

"Want to talk about it?" Doug asked, turning around and facing her."

The half-naked girl paused for a moment, covering herself up from her shoulders down while staring up into the ice blue eyes of her new lover. "Nah, maybe later. Watcha been doing?"

"It's called tai chi," the handsome young man explained.

"What's the point of it?"

Doug paused, noticing how his paramour had allowed the covers to drop down to her waist without the least bit of modesty. "It's like practicing martial arts but more on a spiritual level as opposed to a physical one."

"Wolverine would probably know more of whatcha talking 'bout."

"Speaking of Wolverine, while you were asleep, Professor Xavier informed me on the commlink here that I would have a danger room session with him. It's as if he knew I was awake. Amazing."

"Really?" Anne Marie exclaimed, sitting up with her elbows resting on her knees.

"Yes. I'm looking forward to it. Wolverine has an uncanny fighting instinct in addition to his animalistic senses, thus making a powerful combination. It will be quite a match."

"Yah gotta be careful when dealing with Wolverine. His claws can go through practically anything or anyone." Then the Southern starlet got out of the bed and walked over behind him, putting her hands on his muscular chest. Caressing him, she gently touched her lover with the tip of her finger. "Be on guard when yah take him on, Doug. Ah wouldn't want this pretty body of yours to be damaged," the Southern starlet said, breathing hot and heavily behind the young man's ear.

Doug turned around and admired the slender yet buxom body of the beautiful, young girl, sighing happily. "I'll be all right. On a technical level, my fighting ability is actually better than Wolverine's, but his claws and indestructible bone structure do pose a problem even if I'm practically invulnerable for the most part.

"How do yah know about Wolvie's bones?" the girl asked, still caressing him. "There's no way yah coulda known 'bout that."

Paragon looked the young woman in the eyes for a moment, smiling as if he was a teacher about to explain an answer to a questioning student. "I have the ability to read body language. When I say that, I'm not just talking about what someone is saying. I can also read their fighting abilities, moods, and fighting spirit. Now Wolverine's fighting spirit is actually greater than mine. However, I still feel I can beat him."

"Really?" Then Anne Marie put a wicked smile on her face. "Yah know what?"

"What?"

"Ah bet Ah can read yah body language and find out where yah ticklish." At that point, Rogue's fingers danced on the young man's chest, touching him here and there, caressing him in between his pecs.

"Hmm. That feels nice, but I'm not really ticklish."

"Then why are yah smiling, sugah? Rogue's smile widened as she touched his abdominals and worked her way up to his chest.

"Enjoying yourself, Anne-Marie?" Doug asked as the affectionate woman felt him up.

"Oh, yes. Not only do you look good, you feel good too. Ah just bet you're dying to explode with laughter."

"I love having your hands on me, but it's strange you would start tickling when you yourself are so vulnerable to being tickled. Then there's the fact I have prehensile wings with feathers attached to the end of them," Doug answered with a smile as he touched the small of her back.

"Prehensile wings? How would yah know Ah was ticklish? Oh! Aah, ha ha ha!" the girl exclaimed with a start as Doug's soft gentle feathers began to work their way up her spine.

"I have the ability to read people's body language with the ability to see physical weaknesses. I know exactly where you're sensitive. Let's try right here, hmm?"

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Hey!"

"That's not your most sensitive area. Let's try this spot over here," the handsome young man said, his wings tips touching her ribs gently and carefully as he worked his way upwards.

"He he he he!"

"Say uncle."

"Ha ha ha! Ah won't say that!" Despite her protests to the contrary, the beautiful starlet was in a compromising position as she tried move in such a way to minimize the tickling effects of her lover's caressing feathers on her skittish body.

"All riiight," Doug said with a smile as he picked the girl up and executed a wrestling maneuver that ended with Anne-Marie on the bed being flat on her back while Doug looked down on her with a wry smile on his lips. The Southern starlet's eyes widened in surprise as his powerful prehensile wings took hold of her wrists, raising her hands up, leaving his hands free to roam.

"What are yah…" Marie's statement was stopped when her body felt even more pronounced tickling sensations as her lover touched under her raised arms, his fingers dance all over the more sensitive parts of her upper body. The excited girl engaged in twitching movements as she smiled and tried to keep herself from a fit of giggling.

"You like that, hmm?" Doug said with a knowing look that said he had won and was extremely pleased with himself.

Upon Doug's gentle but sure touch of a very sensitive spot on her body, Marie's resistance collapsed like a house of cards, causing her mouth to burst open wide, laughing and giggling uninhibitedly.

"Hehehehehehehehehehehe! Mercy, please!"

"Say uncle."

"Uncle! Hehehehehe! Gasp! Hehehehehehe! Please! Hahahaha! Ah give up; Ah surrender!" Anne-Marie breathed out, her body pink as she tried in vain to wriggle out of his grasp. She then looked up at him with a helpless smile. "Gosh! Nobody's ever done that to meh in mah entire life. Yah really know how to read a woman's body."

"Yes, I do. I loved seeing you giggle like that. You're so cute when you're pink and begging for mercy," Doug said, hovering over the gasping girl whose breasts heaved with every breath. Then he reached down and kissed her.

"Mmm." Rogue returned the kiss passionately and hungrily, putting her whole body into the effort. Then Doug's hands caressed her back, gently working their way down her spine.

"You're really appreciating me; I love that," Doug commented.

"Oh, yes! Ah'm loving the idea of finally touching somebody so wonderful. You're the best thing to ever happen to meh." The excited young girl laid her head down, breathing in and out with a sigh as she affectionately looked up at him.

The handsome, young man looked down on the exhilarated girl and spoke up. "You're a wonderful girl, Anne-Marie, but what about Gambit? Is he going to be a problem?"

"Forget about him!" the Southern starlet exclaimed with a start. Then she calmed down. "It was over between him and meh long before yah came into the picture. Ah'm very upset with that cheating rascal. So don't even think about him!"

Doug regarded the beautiful woman thoughtfully for a moment. He wanted to get to know the object of his desire, but he didn't want to upset her. "It would be better to talk about what happened. Get what happened out of your system and unburden yourself."

"Yah're in bed with meh, and all you want to do is talk? And here Ah thought Ah was charming and attractive," Anne-Marie said with a wriggle and cute pout. Then she began to snuggle up to him.

"All right, Marie. We don't have to talk about him right now. I simply wanted to make it clear I wasn't some kind of home wrecker."

"Home wrecker? Nobody's accusing yah of that. Now comere' and kiss meh again."

_"I hate to interrupt,"_ Professor X said telepathically_. "But it's time for Paragon to show exactly what he's capable of. Be at the danger room at 8:00 am, and don't be late."_

"Gotta go, Marie."

"Yeah, yah better get up and go before I get my hands on yah again. If Ah had my way yah'd never leave this bed."

As Doug got up he quick changed into his usual uniform which consisted of only speedo-like trunks, boots, and gloves.

"Golly! Are yah comfortable wearing something so skimpy like that?" Marie asked, admiring the view of her lover's wings and well-formed back.

"I'm fine. What I'm wearing adapts well to my defenses and is very functional. I really don't need to wear much more. We'll have to get back to what we were doing later, Marie." With that, the golden haired superhero vanished in a golden blur.

"Ah'll say. Sigh!"

XXX

Upon entering the danger room, Paragon noticed Professor X sitting in a control room that was near the ceiling of the room. There was a shatterproof window pane covering the control room, so that the occupants of the room could see what went on during the training session.

After looking around for a moment, Paragon saw that the room was a 10,000 by 10,000 feet, shock white and clear of everything. Then he regarded his current opponent.

"All right, pretty boy. Let's see what you got." Wolverine was dressed in his yellow and black uniform as he glared at his new opponent while Paragon wore his usual golden yellow uniform. The two combatants faced each other in the danger room while Professor X, Storm, and Shadowcat looked on from the outside.

"Anytime you're ready. This should be a good fight. I.." Faster than the untrained eye could follow, Wolverine came leaping at the winged warrior. Despite that, Paragon wasn't as unprepared as he let on as he dropped to the ground and used his legs to propel his opponent further in the same direction he was flying, causing Wolverine to slam into a wall.

"Not bad, bub!" Wolverine called out as he used an acrobatic flip to bounce off the wall and land on his feet, turning around at the same time so that he once again faced his opponent.

"Try this on for size." Paragon recoiled back in flight as he took a few potshots at his shorter opponent using his energy blasts.

_"This guy's really fast. I'll have to be wary of his energy attacks as well. Time to show this kid what fighting's all about."_ Wolverine maneuvered ever so slightly, avoiding the bolts of energy as they passed him by and he leaped forward. Then the claws came out.

Wolverine came on like gangbusters. Before Paragon knew what was happening, his opponent was upon him, forcing him on the defensive. _"I'm going to have to…"_ "Aargh!" his opponent surprised him with his speed as the claws sliced through his normally invulnerable hide.

"_That will show him how things work in real life," _Wolverine thought to himself with a smile as his claws did their work, but victory wasn't his yet. "Ungh!" Wolverine moaned as Paragon's prehensile wings stretched out and slammed into him, striking him from both sides. Then the shorter man jumped back and retracted his claws.

_"This guy is unpredictable. I can beat him, but I have to avoid those claws of his, they practically sliced through what I thought was my invulnerable skin,"_ Paragon strategized as he took to the air and began to bear down on Wolverine like a dive bomber shooting energy blasts at his opponent.

_"I gotta keep moving," _Wolverine thought to himself as he used his acrobatic skills to avoid getting hit. Then he leaped from one side of the walls of the danger room to another, going upwards until he reached and surprised his aerial opponent, attacking!

!SLASH! "Aargh!" Paragon screamed as adamantium claws cut through his chest_. "I don't know how many more attacks like that I can take. I'm going to have to rethink my strategy."_ The younger man flew backwards several yards into the air away from Wolverine. Then he flew downwards like a dive bomber, attacking with charging feint which allowed him to use one of his wings to legsweep his opponent, knocking him off his feet as he flew by. Wolverine used his acrobatic skills to land on his feet and charged Paragon, his claws at the ready.

"_No more trying to dodge this guy. I'm willing to bet that I can dish out more than I can take. The claws don't really do much stun to me; they just hurt like the dickens,"_ Doug thought to himself as he moved in on his opponent.

_"This guy must have a death wish. If that's the case, I'll accommodate him." _Wolverine attacked with an animal ferocity as Paragon came on with fist flying! After going at it toe to toe for what seemed like an eternity, one of the combatants began to waver.

"_I can't take much more of this. I shouldn't have slugged it out with this guy. He's a lot stronger than he let on." _"Ungh!" Wolverine moaned upon the end of Doug's fist barrage which ended with a right cross. Then the shorter man went crashing to the ground in a world of unconsciousness.

"He did it!" Rogue cheered from behind the control panel, jumping up and down.

"I'm surprised he was able to beat Wolverine like that," Shadowcat said to no one in particular.

"That was very interesting," Professor X said. "Now it's time our newest X-Man train with the others in a few more Danger Room sessions."

"This pretty boy won't be doin anything after I be through with him," a voice broke in.

"Gambit! What are you doing?" Professor X exclaimed.

"Gambit finds it hard to believe his woman spent the night with the likes of you," the Cajun said, shutting the danger room door behind him. "Now you gonna pay." Faster than the eye could follow, Gambit whipped out his staff, twirling it around menacingly in Paragon's direction. "Come on, mon ami."

"All right then. Just bring it." Doug motioned with his hands for the Cajun to move forward.

"Hyaa!" Gambit charged the winged warrior, attempting to strike him with his long metal staff, but Paragon simply flew upwards, dodged the faster-than-the-eye-could-follow staff that struck only air.

"You're pretty good with that staff, Gambit. Try this on for size." Doug came at the Cajun thief, bypassing his opponent's fast moving staff attacks and hitting him with several punches in his midsection.

"Ungh!" Gambit leaped backwards like a cat, putting away his staff and tossing several explosive cards in opponent's direction.

"Whoa!" Doug dodged the explosive shards of death for the most part, but he still felt the explosion from an indirect hit. "So you want to use energy attacks? All right. Here's what I got." The golden hero glowed and blasted Gambit, slamming the Cajun into a nearby wall.

"Huff! You have to better than that, homme," Gambit said, barely being able to get up from the all encompassing energy assault.

"If that's necessary, so be it." Paragon flew into his opponent fists first. However, Gambit deflected the oncoming charge with his staff and used his weapon to grasp Doug by his chin and slam him to the ground.

"Ungh!" Before the winged warrior could get up, Gambit tossed several more explosive cards in his direction, prompting Paragon to fly upwards out of the spot he was in as fast as he could.

"Aargh!" the Cajun screamed as Paragon counter attacked with another volley of energy blasts, a few shots getting past his missile deflective staff, striking him square in the chest from his aerial vantage point.

"How come Paragon's taking so long to defeat him?" Rogue asked no one in particular. "He should have taken him out by now."

"Gambit's not as tough as Wolverine, so Paragon's holding back a little," Professor X explained. "I'm happy to see he's beginning to understand how we X-Men do things."

"Ah wish he'd simply beat that womanizer to a pulp!" Rogue answered harshly.

"Now, Rogue, you don't really mean that," Professor X said calmly. "Let's pay more attention to this fight that's about to end."

_"I've taken this guy's measure, so now I can take him out without seriously injuring him,"_ Doug thought to himself.

"Have some mo' cards. Just so you know, homme, the Joker is wild!" Gambit threw several cards in Paragon's direction. There were so many cards coming in Paragon's direction that he couldn't evade them all to the point that most of them hit him square on. The Joker card exploded with such force that it covered a wider area, knocking Paragon back a few yards to the point that he had to use his acrobatic skills to land on his feet.

"Ungh! I think that was your trump card, Gambit. Now it's my turn." Paragon flew at his opponent with a great deal of speed, attempting to fly into him fists first. However, Gambit maneuvered to his right, evading the attack, or so he thought. After "missing" his target, Paragon bounced off the wall, ricocheting off of it and onto his opponent, striking Gambit in the back and knocking him out.

"He beat him!" Rogue shouted, jumping up and down with excitement.

"Yes, he used his speed to outflank him," the professor explained. "Now it's time for our newest X-Man to learn how to work within a team."

XXX

Over the course of the day, Doug got even more familiar with the X-Men and how they did things. After the day was over he went back to his room with Rogue following close behind him. "Ah didn't think yah'd do so well against Wolverine, darlin."

"Yes. I have to admit that working out with the X-Men in the Danger Room against those robots called Sentinels was rather interesting," Doug replied as he absent-mindedly began to get ready for a much needed shower. Then he noticed his paramour staring at him in admiration.

"Don't stop on my account, Sugah. Ah'm enjoying the view."

"Well. It's late, and I want to get up early for some rest. I do have some school tomorrow. Might as well further my schooling while I'm here," Doug explained.

After taking his shower and drying off, Doug returned to his room. Upon getting dressed in only a pair of shorts, he laid down on his bed.

"Lookin good, Sugah. How bout Ah join yah?" Anne Marie proceeded to undress until she was in her underwear then she crawled into bed with the object of her desire.

"It's surprising how forward you're being," Doug said. "Are you sure about this?"

"Ah'm sure enough, sugah. Yah have no idea how horny a girl who's barred from touching anyone can get."

"Does the fact that I have wings bother you at all?" Doug asked as he regarding the southern starlet.

"Ah don't have any problems with that. Kurt is indigo black with a tail. And there was a guy with wings before yah got here. There have been a whole lot of things far stranger than your wings or Kurt's tail, and as X-Men we have and will face even more strange things. Now come here and hold meh," Anne Marie said with a come hither look.

"It's a good thing I have super strength and toughness. I'm not sure I'd survive being with you otherwise."

"Ah'm glad yah are so tough too, Doug. As it is, Ah'd be liable to kill yah otherwise," the Southern gal said with a smile.

But as Doug moved towards her, the alarms went off! _"X-Men!"_ Professor X ordered out telepathically. _"Come to the hangar bay of the Blackbird in combat uniform immediately!"_

"What's going on, Chuck?" Wolverine stated as he and the other X-Men showed up.

"Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants have taken over a secret, underground American army base in the Arizona dessert. I've seen to it the Blackbird already has the coordinates."

"Why would he do that?" Storm, the leader of the X-Men asked.

"This base has nuclear missiles and other secret weapons hidden in it. Most of the soldiers in that army base don't even know about the especially dangerous nuclear weapons there. But for some reason Magneto knew about them," the professor explained.

"How did you know about all of this?" Paragon asked.

"I have ways of knowing what's going. Magneto has many of the world's most dangerous mutants working for him including Juggernaut. That's why I want all of you to go there. It's imperative Magneto doesn't get his hands on those nuclear missiles," the professor ordered.

"We're on our way, Professor," Storm conformed. "Move out, X-Men!" Upon Storm's orders, the nine X-Men entered the large, black jet airplane and took off for the army base.

XXX

The X-Men arrived in Arizona after having landed the plane a safe distance away. They made their way to the secret army base only to see it awash in chaos. Tanks and equipment was in a shambles while many soldiers lay on the ground unconscious or worse.

"So the X-Men have come to play. Come on then." A slender, blond haired man wearing red and yellow regarded the newcomers. He called out in an Australian accent to a few of his confederates who came to his aid, backing him up. Then flames in the shape of large fists came barreling out of his hands.

"That's right, Pyro. It's like all of them are here!" a morbidly obese man yet somewhat muscular man wearing only trunks called the Blob called out. "Who's the new guy?"

"Who cares? Let's give them a greeting," a medium sized man wearing gray and silver with a large A on his chest commented. Other less known mutants looked in the direction of the newcomers with senses of disdain and curiosity.

"I haven't seen so many mutants in my entire life!" Paragon called out as he took to the air.

"Careful, Blondie," Wolverine said, popping his claws out. "These guys mean business.

"Nightcrawler and Paragon! Deal with them and do it quickly!" Storm ordered as she took to the air on a created small tornado that took hold of several lesser known mutants working for Magneto. "The sooner we make work of them the better!"

Paragon flew over his targets like a divebomber while Nightcrawler teleported himself behind Pyro, knocking him out with a well-placed fist to the jaw. "Ungh!" the Aussie moaned as he fell to the ground.

"What the..." !CRACK! "Aargh!" Avalanche cried out as Paragon landed and struck him with an elbow to the chin that sent his opponent to the ground and a world of unconsciousness.

"You think you're so tough, Blondie?" the large, obese man called out as he made his way towards him. "You may have been able to take on my friends, but nothing can stop the Blob!"

Before Doug knew what was happening, the Blob had taken hold of him. "Ungh!" the golden hero moaned as the Blob put the squeeze on him, dragging his captive into his massive blubber.

"Huff! You might be pretty strong, Blondie, but you're not getting away now, you feathered fairy. Once the Blob gets ya, you stay got!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, that's so. And what's with that ridiculous getup?"

"I'm actually dressed better than you. I look a whole lot better than you do as well," Paragon answered with a smile.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." Then Doug surprised the big man that held him by turning around.

"So what if you're facing me? What are ya gonna do now?"

"This." To the surprise of the much larger man, Paragon's prehensile wings slipped out of his grasp and slammed both sides of the Blob's head, boxing his ears in.

"Aaaargh!" the extremely large man screamed, going down with a huge thud, letting his captive go.

"I figured that was a weakness. It's not as if you could have had too much fat inside your ears, but then I could have been wrong."

"Look alive, bub! It ain't over yet!" Wolverine called out as he backhanded another mutant who had attempted to blast him with waves of electric energy.

"All right, but where is Magneto?"

"I don't know, but we need to finish this as soon as possible," Wolverine answered.

XXX

In a hidden laboratory of the military base, Magneto had easily defeated the guards despite the fact that they were some of the best commandos in the military. _"Now, where are those plans? Ah, yes Here they are."_ The Master of Magnetism pressed some buttons on the main computer and waited for a few seconds. _"Mystique had better been right about this!"_ Then the computer screen gave Magneto what he was looking for. With a smile on his face, he pressed a few more buttons. _"I got it. Now it's time for me to leave and take what I came here for."_

XXX

AUTHOR'S NOTES: What has Magneto acquired? Be here next time to find out!


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